An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a base morpheme to form a word. An affix can be a prefix (attached before another morpheme), a suffix (attached after another morpheme), an infix (inserted within another morpheme), a circumfix (attached before and after another morpheme), or a suprafix (attached suprasegmentally to another morpheme). Affixes are bound morphemes by definition. Prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes.
Affixes are central to the process of agglutination.
| affix | example
|
| prefix | undo
prefix + root
|
| suffix | looking
root + suffix
|
| infix 1 | fanfuckingtastic
ro- + infix + -ot
|
| circumfix 2 | enlighten
circum- + root + -fix
|
| suprafix | produce (noun)
produce (verb)
(changing stress)
|
1 English infixes only exist in exclamatory constructions like the given example.
2 English circumfixes do not exist other than en- -en, which is not productive now.
See also